McAMS Yamaha’s Michael Laverty got straight on the pace today’s at Cartagena’s Pro-Test, setting the second quickest laptime on a bike that has still got a long way to go in terms of development.

The almost-Welshman set a 1’33.6 lap in his final stint on the Pirelli SC0 tyre and said it was relaxed and far from a ‘bite-the-screen’ lap - plus Laverty is using the standard fuel tank and last year’s swingarm so is confident there is a lot more pace to come, especially when a small chatter problem is eradicated and team insert an engine today which has an extra 8bhp.

“It’s a good start and I am really happy. That was using the slower engine and the boys will put in a different engine today which should give us another 6-8bhp which is a significant amount at the top end as the bike does feel a little sluggish on the straight,” said Laverty, speaking at BSN at the track.

“We will stay on the SC0 tyres as the bike seems to like those and good on tyre life too. The forks and shock feel really good, and the bike delivers its power in such a smooth way. I am not riding it quite right yet as I am anticipating a big surge of power like I have had in previous years but that doesn’t happen, so I need to be on the power earlier on corner exit.

“The delivery makes it feel plush and smooth, it feels relatively slow and you are surprised at the speed you are going. From now on, we will just fine-tune what we have. We’ve got the standard swingarm and only one link for that, there are head cups to try for steering angle and we can look at the electronics a bit more.”

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